According to Thucydides, what was Sparta's motive? The Spartans thought that the Athenians could command completely, and the Athenians were very friendly to them at that time? In this way, they handed over the leadership to the Athenians. But the author thinks his view is debatable, because Spartans and Athenians were not friendly at that time. According to Diodor Ruth, the Spartans saw that the Athenians had mastered the leadership and their power grew rapidly. Out of jealousy and anxiety, the whole country almost unanimously decided to take back the Greek maritime leadership by force, only because of the persuasion of a member of the Council of Elders named Hector Malidas.
One, about the leadership and honor of Sparta and Athens Many modern authoritative scholars believe that although Dior Dorus recorded this matter at the wrong time, after the transfer of leadership in the war, such a heated debate did happen in the history of Sparta.
In fact, as early as the Greek-Persian War, the struggle between Athenians and Spartans for leadership and honor was very fierce, and there was no friendly relationship at all. Herodotus said? The Athenians wanted to compete with the Spartans for the command of the Greek joint fleet, but they were opposed by other Greeks, only considering that if the alliance broke down, they would be unable to resist the Xue Xisi army alone. ? Themistocles's greatest contribution to the Sino-Greek War was to safeguard the unity of Greece. He once discouraged the Athenians from competing with the Spartans for the command of Artemis' Greek fleet. Thus, on the eve of the Battle of themis, Athens and Sparta fought fiercely for the leadership of the Greek Coalition forces. After the Battle of Salamis, it is well known that the Athenians were eager to challenge Sparta's maritime leadership because of their outstanding contributions to the Greek world.
For this reason, Sparta suppressed Athens in the selection of the post-war hero award and awarded the hero award to Egina. Plutarch pointed out that the fierce struggle between Sparta and Athens for the evaluation of this hero award is likely to cause armed confrontation and destroy the cause of the Greeks. Before the Persian War, Spartans invaded Attica four times. Therefore, Spartans and Athenians are not friendly at all. It was only because the pro-Spartans headed by Meng Ke came to power after the Salami naval battle that the relationship between them was eased. At the same time, in 1970s, Athens tried to ease the relationship with Sparta, in order to prevent Sparta from openly opposing its control of Tyrol League and developing its own strength.
Therefore, the relationship between Athens and Sparta has always been hostile and competitive, and the temporary easing in the early 1960s and 1970s was only a stopgap measure. As Kagan said: From 479 BC to 46 BC1year, the alliance between Sparta and Athens was not an alliance between city-states, but an alliance between parties. ? That is, the friendship between spartan doves and pro-spartan factions headed by Meng Ke in Athens.
Second, the reasons for Sparta's withdrawal from continuing the war Some scholars have put forward their own unique views on the reasons for Sparta's withdrawal from continuing the war from the perspective of economic activities. They think that Sparta and its allies are mainly agricultural city-States, and their citizens are always concerned about the harvest in their hometown, because? In southern Greece, Messenia and Lacconia have the most fertile land, and farming is also the main occupation of Lacconia residents? . In addition, some people put forward their own views on this issue from the economic point of view, arguing that Sparta and its Peloponnesian alliance withdrew because they had no interests abroad, especially commercial interests. I am cautious about this.
First of all, although Sparta is an agricultural city-state, its citizens are not engaged in production, but focus on military training, and the field labor is mainly undertaken by Luo people in Riccardo Chailly. Therefore, it seems inappropriate for Sparta to retreat hastily for agricultural production and continue the war. Secondly, considering Sparta's many overseas operations and its goals, we should not rashly accept the latter view.
In my opinion, the reason why Spartans quit the war at this time should be analyzed from the following aspects:
First of all, the Greek alliance city-states refused the command of Sparta and turned to the leadership of Athens. At the end of the Greek-Persian war, Sparta was recognized as the leader of the Greek Coalition forces. However, Bosnias, the commander-in-chief of Bosnias, and his generals treated the allied soldiers with arrogance and ruthlessness, which made people's grievances boil inside the allies, and even the Peloponnesian allies withdrew from their countries and complained to the Spartans. According to Plutarch's records, Pausanias whipped allied generals and forced them to stand guard with iron anchors all day. Allied soldiers were not allowed to go to bed before Spartans, but had to feed animals or draw water. Spartan servants drove the approaching soldiers away with sticks.
In addition, after Bossanias' crime of contacting Persia and betraying Greece was discovered, the Spartans were embarrassed and the countries of the alliance were very angry. Thucydides, Dior Dorus and others have described this in detail. So, egged on by the Athenian general Aristide, the allies joined forces to drive out Bossanias in Byzantium. Although in Herodotus' view, Pausanias's behavior was not the real reason for the change of leadership, the Athenians used his behavior as an excuse to seize the leadership of the Allies. However, it is undeniable that his behavior must be a factor leading to the transfer of leadership, at least changing the attitude of allies.
In contrast, the Athenians' prestige suddenly rose because of their outstanding performance in the Persian War, their friendly attitude towards the allies and their kinship with the Ionians, and their allies asked the Athenians to shelter and lead them. Aristide interacted with the allies in a gentle and kind manner, persuading Meng Ke to be lenient with them, get along with them and join the war together: Meng Ke was kind to those who took refuge in him because of grievances; Plutarch commented that Aristide and Meng Ke did not rely on armored soldiers, warships or cavalry, but relied on their wit and diplomatic ability to seize their leadership before the Spartans knew it.
But at this time, as the most powerful city-state in Greece, how could Sparta accept the leadership of others? Even after becoming a second-rate city-state in the fourth century BC, they still refused to accept the leadership of Athens and sought common leadership. In this way, the Spartans reluctantly withdrew from the continuous war against Persia.
Secondly, Spartans are worried that their overseas soldiers will gradually become arrogant and extravagant, thus destroying their unique way of life. Spartans believe that Pausanias became extravagant and corrupt mainly because he was deeply impressed by his long-term contact with Persia and was far away from the supervision and guidance of the inspectors.
In addition, he has been in power for a long time, so that he breeds arrogance, rudeness and arrogance, and his life is corrupt. Dior Ruth once commented on the fall of Pausanias. Bossanias is conceited because he made meritorious service in the battle of Platia. Through practical contact with Persians, he gradually began to hate the lifestyle inherited by Spartans from their ancestors and praised the luxurious lifestyle of Persians. ?
Thucydides explained that Bossanias enjoyed a good reputation in Greece because of his mediocre performance in the Battle of Platia, and at the same time he was arrogant because of his close relationship with the Persian king, so he could not be satisfied with his past lifestyle. He often wears Persian clothes, sets up guards like Persians and Egyptians, and holds banquets in Persian way. At the Spartan League meeting, the Athens envoy pointed out that once any Spartan went abroad, he would be influenced by the foreign lifestyle and could not maintain his own inherent lifestyle. This statement did not cause the Spartans and others to refute it, which shows that it tells the truth.
Therefore, in order to maintain their unique way of life, Spartans are reluctant to send their citizens to fight overseas.
Third, the Spartans, starting from their own objective conditions, believed that the pursuit of maritime hegemony was not good for them. For example, if they attack Persia, they must cross the Aegean Sea, and the battle is mainly carried out at sea, which requires a fleet. However, the Spartans traditionally could not sail, and the number of ships was small, and they did not have enough funds to build a powerful fleet, which was related to their economic structure and the mechanism of the Peloponnesian League. Sparta did not encourage the development of commercial economy and the accumulation of wealth. Traditionally, Sparta was an agricultural society, relying entirely on the labor of Luo people in Riccardo Chailly.
Unlike the Tyrol League, the Peloponnesian League did not have a tribute system, but during the war, the League was obliged to send some teams to participate in the battle. At the same time, compared with Athens, its paddlers are also very scarce. Athens has a large population, with helpers, while Sparta has a small population. In 479 BC, there were only 5,000 citizens, and a three-layer paddle warship needed about 200 people. The ancient Greeks thought it was an insult to their dignity to engage in some inappropriate jobs. Therefore, it is very likely that the vast majority of Spartan citizens are unwilling to do such rough work as rowing and shaking the trough, and some citizens will shake the trough, which will also reduce the combat strength of their heavy infantry. Even so, it is impossible to form a powerful fleet.
Although heroes can be used as rowers, it is a long-standing debate whether Spartan society uses heroes. Spartan King Cleo threatened, Regent Bossanias, generals Belasi and Leshande all advocated the liberation and utilization of heroes.
However, the conservative forces are also very strong. They think that the liberation of Riccardo Chailly Luo people must give them citizenship in return, otherwise the fighting capacity of Shiloh soldiers will be weak. Essentially, a polis is a machine in which mature citizens of a country rule slaves and foreigners. At the same time, in ancient Greece, civil rights were closely related to land ownership and the right to participate in political, religious and cultural activities. Therefore, Spartans do not want heroes to share their civil rights.
In addition, the number of heroes far exceeds that of Spartans, and their hatred for Spartans is so deep that Spartans are also worried that armed heroes will endanger their rule. What is even more frightening is that Luo people in Riccardo Chailly have realized that they are a nation and have a sense of unity. It is very dangerous to arm such people, which is a serious challenge to the existing regime in Sparta.
Andrews believes that this is also an important factor restricting Sparta's pursuit of hegemony. In addition, he also pointed out that the Spartan landlords at that time were satisfied with their established way of life, and if Sparta led the war, they had to make sacrifices for it.
Finally, geographically, the Peloponnesian Peninsula is far from the Aegean Sea and its coastline is straight, which is not suitable for building a good port. Athens does not have a big port like Pilars, nor does it have the conditions to pursue maritime hegemony.
Fourthly, the reason why Spartans don't want to continue to fight overseas is that a large number of spoils will flow into Sparta, and the distribution of these spoils will cause the polarization between the rich and the poor in society, thus destroying its existing social structure. Hamilton once brilliantly analyzed the various influences of the input of wealth on Spartan society. He believes that with the increase of wealth, people will get wealth more and more easily. Although Sparta's normal supply and demand system is still in operation, prices will rise accordingly. The collapse of the material distribution system and the accumulation of wealth caused by the war will gradually increase the price of imported goods, whether raw materials or finished products.
The state can solve the problem of rising prices through various taxes, but it is impossible for individuals to deal with such problems in this way. For example, he also said that iron is an indispensable raw material for both agriculture and military affairs, and the rise in its price will actually have an impact on every member of society. Although the price increase is gradual, after a few years, people will feel its cumulative impact, especially for people with fixed income. The income of most Spartans was fixed and came from their land in Lacconia.
In this way, several years later, a considerable number of Spartans were pushed out of the ranks of equals and reduced to what Xenophon called inferior people. The poverty and depravity of some people in Spartan society were carried out at the same time when some people were fortunate enough to get rich positions such as overseas governors, which led to the so-called? Equal person society? Polarization.
Since then, Sparta * * * failed to correctly deal with the economic difficulties faced by the lower class, which made this problem more serious. The poorer the poor, the richer the rich, which eventually led to the demise of Spartan hegemony.
Finally, the most obvious reason is that Sparta was restrained by heroic uprisings and wars with neighboring city-States. Bossanias' regency period is limited. In order to ensure his position and carry out the hero's reform plan, he contacted Persia and planned a heroic riot. In addition, after being exiled, Themistocles may also encourage the Luo people in Riccardo Chailly to rebel, so as to prepare for his future return to Athens politics. When the Spartan authorities discovered and saw through their plot to instigate the Luo people in Riccardo Chailly, they decided to arrest Bossanias and urged the Athenian aristocratic regime headed by Meng Ke to sentence Themistocles to death. Athens did this in order to win Sparta's acquiescence in its control of the Tyrol League.
Sparta is not only fettered by domestic political struggle, but also threatened by the rise of allied forces around it and the growing tendency of world independence. According to Herodotus, during and after the Greek-Persian War, the relationship between Tikia and Sparta was very tense. The Prophet of Elis, Haggai Sith Latus, was arrested and imprisoned by Sparta. He cut off the instep and fled to Tikia. Spartan king Leudochides was accused of returning from the expedition to Thessaly and also fled to Tikia.
In the sixties and seventies of the 5th century BC, Sparta first fought against the allied forces of Tiquia and Argos in Tiquia, and then fought against all Acadians except Montiana in Dipaye, which shows the tension between Sparta and its allies. In addition, perhaps with the help of Themistocles, Elis and Montinia realized their own city-states during this period, and concentrated the strength of these two regions, making Sparta more difficult to control and even threatened.
After the King's Peace Treaty in the 4th century BC, Sparta resolutely divided Montinia into four villages, which was also out of similar concerns. However, after the Battle of Luctra, Montania rebuilt the city wall and led the formation of the Acadia League. With the help of Wu Bai, it looted Laconia, which had not been trampled for hundreds of years. Therefore, the threat of Shiloh uprising in China and the containment of the surrounding city-states made it impossible to separate its forces and continue the war against Persia.
In short, due to the above factors, Sparta withdrew from the continuous war against Persia, and its Peloponnesian League city-states followed suit, with the exception of Egina, which may be due to its overseas commercial activities and the need to continue to fight Persia and fight pirates in the Aegean Sea.